Using sleeping birds’ vocal muscle activity to create artificial songs

During sleep, we can sporadically find patterns of neural activity in areas of the bird's brain that are activated during song production. Recently, it was found that patterns of activity during these silent plays can be detected in the vocal muscles of sleeping birds. In a new study, researchers from the University of Buenos Aires and CONICET employed a dynamic systems model for song production in suborder birds. Tyrani This is to convert the vocal muscle activity during sleep into a synthetic song.

Great Kiskadee (Pitangus sulfuratus) July 2011, Beeville, Texas, USA. Image credit: Tess Thornton / CC BY-SA 3.0 Deed.

“Dreams are one of the most intimate and elusive parts of our existence,” said Dr. Gabriel Mindlin, senior author of the study.

“It's very moving to know that we share something with species so far away. And the possibility of entering the mind of a dreaming bird – of hearing the sounds of its dreams. is a temptation that cannot be resisted.”

A few years ago, Dr. Mindlin and his colleagues discovered that these patterns of neuronal activity were transmitted to the syringe muscle, the bird's vocal organ.

They are able to capture sleeping birds' muscle activity data via recording electrodes called electromyograms and convert it into a synthetic song using a dynamical systems model.

“For the past 20 years, I have been studying the physics of bird calls and how muscular information is translated into calls,” Dr. Mindlin said.

“In this way, we can use the muscle activity patterns as time-dependent parameters in a bird song production model and synthesize the corresponding song.”

Trill electromyographic activity recorded during sleep and synthetic sounds generated by a dynamic model.Image credit: Doppler other., doi: 10.1063/5.0194301.

Many birds have complex muscle structures, so translating syringe activity into calls is a bit difficult.

“For this first piece, we chose Wonderful Kiskadi (Pitangus sulfuratus)“It's a member of the flycatcher family, a species for which we recently discovered the physical mechanism of its song and showed some simplifications,” Dr. Mindlin said.

“In other words, we selected species for which the first steps of this program were viable.”

The authors heard the sound emerge from the data of birds dreaming of territorial battles by raising the tops of their wings, a gesture reminiscent of calls used during daytime conflicts. I was incredibly moved.

“Imagining that lonely bird reenacting its territorial battles in my dreams really resonated with me. We have more in common with other species than we often realize.” said Dr. Mindlin.

This study presents biophysics as a new exploratory tool that can open the door to the quantitative study of dreams.

“We are interested in interacting with dreaming birds using these syntheses that can be implemented in real time,” Dr. Mindlin said.

“And for species that learn, to address questions about the role of sleep during learning.”

of study It was published in the magazine chaos.

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Juan F. Doppler other. 2024. Bird dream synthesis was featured. chaos 34 (4): 043103; doi: 10.1063/5.0194301

Source: www.sci.news

Liverpool FC and DeepMind collaborate to create artificial intelligence for soccer strategy consultation

Corner kicks like this one taken by Liverpool's Trent Alexander-Arnold can lead to goal-scoring opportunities.

Robbie Jay Barratt/AMA/Getty

Artificial intelligence models predict the outcome of corner kicks in soccer matches and help coaches design tactics that increase or decrease the probability of a player taking a shot on goal.

petar veličković Google's DeepMind and colleagues have developed a tool called TacticAI as part of a three-year research collaboration with Liverpool Football Club.

A corner kick is awarded when the ball crosses the goal line and goes out of play, creating a good scoring opportunity for the attacking team. For this reason, football coaches make detailed plans for different scenarios, which players study before the game.

TacticAI was trained on data from 7176 corner kicks from England's 2020-2021 Premier League season. This includes each player's position over time as well as their height and weight. You learned to predict which player will touch the ball first after a corner kick has been taken. In testing, Ball's receiver ranked him among TacticAI's top three candidates 78% of the time.

Coaches can use AI to generate tactics for attacking or defending corners that maximize or minimize the chances of a particular player receiving the ball or a team getting a shot on goal. This is done by mining real-life examples of corner kicks with similar patterns and providing suggestions on how to change tactics to achieve the desired result.

Liverpool FC's soccer experts were unable to distinguish between AI-generated tactics and human-designed tactics in a blind test, favoring AI-generated tactics 90% of the time.

But despite its capabilities, Veličković says TacticAI was never intended to put human coaches out of work. “We are strong supporters of AI systems, not systems that replace AI, but augment human capabilities and allow people to spend more time on the creative parts of their jobs,” he says.

Velicković said the research has a wide range of applications beyond sports. “If you can model a football game, you can better model some aspects of human psychology,” he says. “As AI becomes more capable, it needs to understand the world better, especially under uncertainty. Our systems can make decisions and make recommendations even under uncertainty. It’s a good testing ground because it’s a skill that we believe can be applied to future AI systems.”

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Source: www.newscientist.com

How to create a functional Dune force field

Within the vast expanse of space, the Holtzmann Shield serves as a mobile force field capable of shielding individual soldiers in combat. This shield, generated by a device attached to a belt, can divert fast-moving projectiles away from the wearer, although slow-moving objects like combat knives can breach the barrier.

Creating such force fields presents a significant challenge in reality. Gravity, electromagnetism, and the strong and weak nuclear forces are the four fundamental forces in nature. While gravity is too feeble to function as a local force field, the nuclear force is robust but limited to the atomic nucleus.

Physicist Professor Jim Al Khaliliand researchers at the University of Surrey are exploring the possibilities of constructing force fields based on electromagnetism, a force more potent than gravity and with a longer reach compared to the nuclear force. However, this force only affects charged objects, necessitating the charging of detected flying objects.

One proposed method involves bombarding objects with positron beams, which are antimatter particles with the same mass as electrons but opposite charge. The annihilation of positrons and electrons can potentially charge and deflect incoming projectiles, offering a route to building force fields.

Though theoretically possible, this technology is likely a distant prospect, possibly not materializing for another 20,000 years. In the meantime, research is underway on electric armor for tanks, which replaces heavy steel plates with energized thin metal plates separated by insulation to store a significant charge. This innovative armor system improves efficiency and reduces weight, enhancing the agility of armored vehicles.

Source: www.sciencefocus.com

Physicists Create New Isotopes of Osmium and Tungsten through Synthesis

A team of Chinese physicists has synthesized two new isotopes: osmium-160 and tungsten-156.



Location of the new isotopes osmium-160 and tungsten-156 on the nuclide chart. Image credit: Huabin Yang.

“The magic numbers of protons and neutrons make the nucleus particularly stable. The traditional magic numbers are 8, 20, 28, 50, 82, and 126,” said Dr. Huabin Yang, a physicist at the Institute of Modern Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences. said the colleague.

“In previous research, physicists discovered that traditional magic numbers disappear and new magic numbers appear on the neutron-rich side of the nuclide chart.”

“Will other traditional magical numbers also disappear in the nuclear region where there is an extreme lack of neutrons?”

“Further exploration is critical to enriching and developing nuclear theory and improving our understanding of nuclear forces.”

In the new study, Dr. Yang's team conducted experiments at the Gas-Filled Recoil Separator Spectrometer for Heavy Atom and Nuclear Structures (SHANS) in Lanzhou, China.

Researchers have synthesized two new isotopes, osmium-160 and tungsten-156, using nuclear fusion vaporization reactions.

They measured the energy of the alpha particle and the half-life of the alpha-emitting isotope osmium-160.

On the other hand, the daughter nucleus, tungsten-156, was found to be a β+ emitter with a half-life of 291 ms.

The researchers used the newly measured alpha decay data to derive the alpha decay reduction for osmium-160 and compared it to other nuclei with 84 neutrons and fewer protons.

They discovered a surprising trend: the higher the number of protons, the lower the decay rate.

“This trend is interpreted as evidence of enhanced closure of the 82 neutron shell towards the proton drip line, which is supported by the increase in the neutron shell gap predicted by the theoretical model,” Dr. Yang said. said.

“The increased stability of the 82 neutron shell closure is thought to be due to the increasing proximity of the double magic nucleus lead 164, which may be a stable atomic nucleus with 82 protons and 82 neutrons. Masu.”

“Although lead-164 is predicted to cross the proton drip line, enhanced shell effects could make it a bonded or quasi-bonded nucleus.”

of study It was published in the magazine physical review letter.

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HB Yang other. 2024. Discovery of new isotopes 160with oz 156W: Reveals improved stability of N=82 shell closure on the neutron-deficient side. Physics.pastor rhett 132 (7): 072502; doi: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.132.072502

Source: www.sci.news

Defy the odds, create your own path, and achieve unprecedented success

have something in common A story that repeats itself in the tech industry. A fast-growing startup emerges with a breakthrough concept, succeeds in raising incredible VC funding, and rockets to unicorn status. The company then fails to achieve sustainable profits and falls from glory within a few years (or even months). Despite a relative slowdown in VC activity, that story has continued over the last year, and usually reaches the same conclusion.
90% of startups fail 10% of them die within a year.

The numbers paint a grim picture, but one thing we know as innovators is that every challenge has a unique solution. Often, what holds entrepreneurs back is not money, but rather rapid growth and an over-obsession with flashy technology. This leads to neglecting to solve core business challenges and ultimately leads to a lack of stability and long-term profitability. Before investing in an attractive technology product, it is important to change this approach and prioritize providing reproducible solutions to relevant problems.

Suppose your objective is to introduce an innovative solution to a new niche problem in a way never seen before in the market. In that case, you don’t have to be bold. You need to be bold enough to believe in the company’s clairvoyance, and know enough about your field to maintain that level of confidence even to your face. A strong headwind.

Here’s how to start your own category to solve a niche problem

Identify your unique value proposition

When faced with seemingly insurmountable challenges or unexpected investments, the most important thing is to remain true to the company’s mission.

The most loved and valued companies have built categories that didn’t exist because they offer solutions that other companies can’t even imagine. There’s a reason Apple remains the most valuable company on the planet. The advent of iPhone happened when the user had to carry her iPod, mobile phone, laptop and planner separately. For the first time, a device has appeared that allows him to achieve all these items in one device.

Compare this to products like Threads. Threads is a simple modification of existing products. Unable to retain users. A sales pitch that says, “We’re offering the same product that’s already on the market, but with a few changes,” is much weaker than, “This is a solution that didn’t exist before.” In my career helping brands connect with their communities on platforms, I’ve seen this strategy yield greater benefits than copying existing solutions.

In 2018-2019, I began a journey to take on traditional social giants and provide an alternative way for brands to develop brand-centric communities online. At the time, Facebook had some notorious scandals regarding the misuse of personal data. Amity has set out on a mission to improve and democratize social networks, with the goal of building better social networks that foster active user interaction while respecting the privacy of user data.

Source: techcrunch.com

Chemists at MIT create vibrant organic molecules through synthesis

Researchers at MIT have made a groundbreaking development in the stability of acene, a molecule with potential for use in semiconductors and light-emitting diodes. This advancement has opened up possibilities for acene to emit light in a range of colors, leading to its potential use in solar cells and energy-efficient screens. Known as organic light-emitting diodes and promising for use in solar cells, acenes consist of chains of fused carbon-containing rings with unique optoelectronic properties.

However, the stability of acene has been challenging, as the length of the molecule determines the color of light it emits, and longer acenes tend to be less stable and therefore not widely used in light-emitting applications. Researchers at MIT have devised a new approach to address this issue, making the molecules more stable in order to synthesize acenes of various lengths and build molecules that emit red, orange, yellow, green, or blue light. This innovative approach allowed them to create acenes with positive charges that possess increased stability and unique electronic properties, making them suitable for a wide range of applications.

The new, stable acenes, doped with boron and nitrogen, can now emit light in different colors depending on their length and the type of chemical group attached to the carbodicarbene. This is a significant development, as traditional acene molecules tend to emit only blue light, while the ability to emit red light is vital for many applications, including biological processes such as imaging. The new acenes also exhibit stability in both air and water, a noteworthy feature that opens up possibilities for medical applications.

Furthermore, researchers are exploring the potential of acenes in various derivative forms and incorporating them into technologies such as solar cells and light-emitting diodes for use in screens. By combining creative research with non-traditional paradigms, the research holds promising implications for the development of air- and photostable luminescent materials and compact energy harvesting devices. This innovative work was supported by the Arnold and Mabel Beckman Foundation and the National Science Foundation’s Major Research Instrumentation Program.

Source: scitechdaily.com